Bi-Weekly Blog for Friday 13th, 2025

Bi-Weekly Blog for Friday 13th, 2025

First of all, you ALL need to know, I don’t suffer from triskaidekaphobia. Don’t worry, I had to ‘Google’ it to ensure I spelled it correctly. It’s defined as the irrational and intense fear of the number 13. Seeing how this bi-weekly blog is being published on Friday the 13th, I wanted to let you know I normally have very GOOD luck on Friday the 13th. How do you know which month will have that infamous date? It’s simple. If a month starts on a Sunday, that’s how it works out.

It's interesting how many people out there are in need and we don’t realize it. On the second of June, I went over to the Walmart in Brewer to pick up a bunch of stuff for home. Due to my mobility issues (I use two canes and when I have to be on my feet for extended periods, I use a rollator walker) I use the pick-up option. I parked, called in to let them know I arrived and was greeted by a very pleasant young man named Tony and a few minutes later he came out with the flatbed and my goodies. After chatting and loading up the bags I provided, I passed him a card and told him what we do. He looked at the card and said that he actually KNEW someone that could use our help. He said he had a friend who finally got a place to live after being homeless and was sleeping on the floor.

There’s something to be said for coincidences, synchronicity, and/or divine intervention. It happens a LOT in my life, and it happens even more in relation to Welcome To Housing.

 I’m a very spiritual person, and including my late father, I know a half dozen people who went to the ‘other side’ and shared remarkable stories after being resuscitated. My Pop had his two heart attacks in NJ in the mid 1970s. He experienced the whole ‘out-of’body’ experience and the second one, after being brought back from being flatline, he recited the conversation my Mom and our family Minister Tom Ward had several rooms away.

Three things I learned from my Pop that he never specifically sat me down to talk about but showed by example where these: One, NEVER panic, two, NEVER get embarrassed, and probably the most important was the third. Listen to your gut.

As it turns out, there are a LOT of small world stories that happen in my life and now with WTH they are VERY common. One of the UMaine interns we had in the last few years researched other ‘furniture banks’ by visiting their websites through the Furniture Bank Network which has posted a map of the U.S. and Canada with links to programs like ours all over North America.

I’m not a follower of Numerology, but ever since we moved to our current location, I have seen the number ‘333’ many times and in many places.

Googling it brings up this theory: Some say that seeing the number 333 frequently can be a sign of hope, and that it's a message to believe in yourself and dream big. Others suggest that seeing the number 333 is a sign to consider what you're doing to nurture all parts of yourself.

We have had people needing/requesting specific things we didn’t have. The next thing you know, many times, the very next day, it appears.

Here’s a few examples that you might find interesting.

The first one I remember goes back to 2011 I believe. I had a phone call from a lady who was living in an upper floor apartment which was very hot and with respiratory problems, she asked if we had an air conditioner. I took her name and number and didn’t tell her it was unlikely. This was back when our storage consisted of two B.O.D.S., or Bailey’s On Demand Storage at Parker K. Bailey and Sons Moving and Storage.

The next day, I received another phone call. A very excited UMaine student who told me that she was transferring to a college in one of the Carolinas and had two AC units and she, in no uncertain words told me that she was NOT going to pay to ship them to the college where she was heading, besides they already had AC units there. And then the question came, “Would YOU like them?”

Before The Storehouse clothing program moved into and, then bought the Brick Church on the corner of First and Union Streets in Bangor, they used to have one large room in a building on Hammond Street in Bangor. The late great Pastor Christopher Marley, and I worked well together and after borrowing countless business cards from him, I included the contact information and mission on my own business cards.

One day while visiting their program he told me they had a volunteer who could really use a larger (bariatric) walker/rollator. I told him I would keep a lookout for one and it didn’t take long to find one. The very next day, while visiting the warehouse, I was out back near what used to be the X-Ray room and was talking with several volunteers. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed something. It was EXACTLY what Pastor Chris was looking for. “Whose walker is that?” One of the volunteers said, “It was just donated.” I smiled and asked them to pop it into my car.

At our Old Town Plaza location one day, Jolene Snelling from The Real Estate Book was dropping off some donations. That location was a 2,267 square foot high ceilinged room that had a regular door, and an overhead door and loading dock. Donations came in and were essentially left in a large pile waiting to be sorted out and shelved.

After Jolene left, I check on the caseworker and her client who were just about done ‘shopping.’ I walked alongside the very happy client, and I asked her if she found everything she needed. She hesitated and then said she wished she could find a vacuum cleaner.

I smiled and walked over the small pile of things Jolene dropped off. Among the items was a large cloth tote bag which held a NEW vacuum cleaner with all the attachments. I smiled and told the young woman that Jolene had left the vacuum off because of a First World Problem… Jolene couldn’t figure out to how change the vacuum filter and instead of trying to find the directions, decided to donate it to WTH and buy a new one.

 The most unlikely instance though was this:

One October 9th, my birthday a few years ago, and the official anniversary of Welcome To Housing, my beloved, Robin and I headed down to Mount Desert Island and took a drive up to the top of Cadillac Mountain.

There were cruise ships in port, there were leaf peepers, and the top of the Mountain was teeming with visitors. There was very little left for parking, but it was a parallel space and put on my directional and was all set to back into the space. I looked behind me and there was another car, pulled up on my back bumper.

I was flustered and ready to pull out, but a man suddenly appeared on foot and managed to get the car to pull around. I parked and I got out and couldn’t give the man my card fast enough. On one side was my real estate information and the other side was Welcome To Housing. He told me his name was Bob Faint and he was visiting Maine for the first time. I thanked him and said, if you get lost or if have any questions while visiting, he could call or text me.

We went our separate ways. About fifteen minutes later he came over to us and called out to us while waving my card above his head. He was excited and explained that he volunteered for a similar program to ours in Minnesota. That was very cool and coincidental, especially being the anniversary of WTH. When we returned to our car, my wife found a brochure of the furniture bank where Bob volunteered. We were both surprised too when Robin told me that it wasn’t just another furniture bank, but in fact was LARGEST one in all of north America.

Bridging was founded back in 1987 by a man, Fran Heitzman.

During the 1980s, Heitzman was working as a maintenance man at Pax Christi Catholic Church of Eden Prairie when a parishioner asked if the church could use an old crib for its nursery. The church had no use for it, but Heitzman took it anyway and promised, “I’ll find a home for it,” he recalled during a 2012 interview. Realizing that there was no local organization dedicated to the collecting and disseminating of essential household items, Heitzman set out to fill the void. What started as a mission to find a new home for a crib grew into a nonprofit that had served more than 60,000 families by 2012––the 25th year of the organization, Heitzman said. Sadly, Fran passed away January 11, 2020 at the age of 94.

Since meeting Bob Faint from Bridging, I have looked up to that program as the benchmark of what a furniture bank should be and in fact at one point before we became our own 501(c)(3) nonprofit, I contacted them and asked if we needed a mentor for our program, would Bridging consider helping us in that manner. They were quick to say yes.

So Friday for me has come to a close for this bi-weekly missive. I’m looking forward to this coming week as I will have a chance to write some thank you letters for some of the recent donors, including Patricia “Pat" Wales who with her late husband had the foresight to help many organizations since founding the Narragansett Number One Foundation with support of proceeds and interest from the Powerball lottery.

I’ve always admired folks like Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward whose sales of products like “Newman’s Own” support great causes. Another hero is basketball star LeBron James who has helped countless young people get into college by helping with admission costs. Imagine being one of those young men or women, getting good grades, having dreams of a meaningful career only to run into a roadblock of paying for their higher education.

To me what makes a soul truly “beautiful” have very little to do with their outward appearance. To me what makes someone truly special is their level of COMPASSION.

Hope to see you here again in a couple of weeks. Take some time to do something nice and meaningful for someone else. Karma or “what goes around, comes around” can also work in a GOOD way. Life’s short, leave a positive mark. Much love to all.

Christopher Olsen
Founder and Board President
Welcome To Housing Home Goods Bank, Inc.